Wilderness Camping | Okanagan Mountain Park | Meghan Reading

Since it is camping week in British Columbia, we wanted to highlight one of the Okanagan’s most unique camping experiences - backcountry camping in Okanagan Mountain Provincial Park.

Okanagan Mountain Park is an accessible wilderness to Kelowna and the surrounding Okanagan. This park has some of the best lakeshore and bluff landscape in the valley. The park itself includes over 10,000 hectares of rugged hills.

One of the best parts about this park is the campsites! It is also a boater’s paradise due to the thirty-three kilometers of undeveloped shoreline. We decided to mesh these two activities and kayaked into Buchan Bay to stay at the campsite. There are around forty campsites in the park, some of which are at the higher lakes, but the ones that you definitely should not miss - the marine and beach campgrounds. We aimed our kayaks and canoe for the shoreline and after scoping out several bays, we decided on Buchan Bay as our pick for the evening.

Camping in the park costs only $13, but the sites are remote and you’ll feel as though you are the only people for miles.

The day wasn’t over when we set up our tents - there was still tons of rugged coastline to explore. A short walk up from our site were some absolutely beautiful bluffs that were the perfect setting for a sunset. Perched upon the bluffs we enjoyed this amazing place we call home.

After watching the sunset, we returned to our beach campsite to enjoy the sound of waves and the site of bright stars.

The best part of camping in Okanagan Mountain Provincial Park? Waking up to this view.

Make sure to book your camping site before venturing out into any of BC's Provincial Parks by visiting Discovering Camping.

If camping isn’t your thing, there are tons of other biking and hiking day trails. A trail map is available here.

Meghan Reading is a UBCO management graduate and a content creator specializing in adventure travel photography. She views the world through the lens of her camera and can often be found daydreaming about her next big international adventure. She loves the outdoors and is excited to share this with all those around her.